A House and Grounds for an Art Collector – a Competition

Aspart of their contribution to the Festival of Architecture 2016, the Landscape Institute Scotland are holding a design competition for a new house and grounds for an art collector in the Scottish countryside. Entries will be teams of landscape architects and architects and the competition promises to be an excellent chance to explore and experience the benefits of these two professions working together in collaboration.

The competition is hypothetical and is based on an occupied site in Perthshire, Scotland.

The revised brief for the competition can be found HERE, and participants can register through Eventbrite.

The competition went live on Wednesday, 1st June 2016.

Expressions of interest and fee payment must be completed by Sunday, 31st July 2016

The awards ceremony for the competition will take place on the 28th of September with a public exhibition of the works submitted running from the 28th to the 30th of September. These will take place at the Royal College of Physicians in Glasgow. Further information about the event can be found here.

The LIS wishes all participants the best of luck.

Questions & Answers

Questions and clarifications about the competition brief may be submitted to the LIS via email no later thanMonday, 27th June 2016.

All Questions and answers will be published on this webpage as they are received, with the final answers published no later thanFriday, 8th July 2016.

Question

Answer

Would it be possible to have a team mixed with chartered level and graduate / licentiate level members? i.e. recently chartered architects working with licentiate landscape architects? Or does the submission team need to be either fully chartered or all non-chartered?

Please see page 8 of the revised brief which clarifies the definition of classes of entry.

Does a chartered architect need to be a member of the RIAS, or is ARB membership sufficient?

Please refer to page 8 of the brief.

The requirements are that architect competitors should be: “Registered Architects and members of the RIAS”.

Note of clarification:

An architect is someone who is registered with the ARB (Architects Registration Board). This person is allowed to call themselves an architect.

The Professional Institute is quite separate. In the UK it is the RIBA. There is also the RIAS in Scotland.

As the FOA is as Scottish festival and the 100 year anniversary of the RIAS it is appropriate that:

1 the competitor is an architect, and

2 is a member of the RIAS

Is it intended to provide entrants with a definitive site plan from which to develop their proposal, or are entrants to develop their own scaled site plan based on the sketch plan/details provided in the brief?

Some spot levels are provided in the site plan and no further information will be provided about the levels on the site.

Is there potential to change the exit location of the stream from the site, or is it fixed in the general location shown on the sketch site plan?

The exit location may not be changed, but designers may alter the stream within the site.

Is it intended that the workshop is attached to the house, in order to achieve the ‘internal entrance’ specified in the brief?

Yes

Are there a minimum number of trees to be provided in the orchard?

No specified number

Can the stone wall shown in the photo along the southern boundary of the plot be modified in height and/or alignment?

The detail of the boundary made be changed, but note its function to protect the site from deer and rabbits (Page 6) and note the quality of the views from the site (Page 4).

Does the spring/stream provide a constant source/flow of water all year?

Applicants may treat it as permanent water but its volume is unknown.

Does the ID number to be quoted on the submission equate with the order number quoted on the Eventbrite entry confirmation sheet?

Yes

Is it necessary to combine the vegetable garden and the orchard, or could these occupy separate locations with appropriate design justification?

We are looking for the sensitive visual integration of the vegetables and orchard into a larger landscape concept for the whole site.

Is it necessary to integrate the external maintenance storage area into the main building, or could this occupy a separate location with appropriate design justification?

It is necessary to integrate the external maintenance storage area into the main building.

Is there a minimum font style/size for the text on the A4 page explaining the concept?

10 point minimum

Can the garage, workshop and external maintenance store be combined into a single, albeit possibly subdivided, building/structure?

Yes

Other than the existing trees marked on the sketch site plan, are we to assume that there are no other fixed site boundary features?

See comment on Page 11 of the brief.

Confirm existing boundary treatment?

The current boundaries are a combination of stone walls and fences. Their alignment cannot be altered, but their treatment may be changed. Designers should note their function to protect the site from deer and rabbits (Page 6 of the brief).

Can copies of the digital photographs of the site be made available to entrants?

The photographs are not available separately from the brief.

We note that competitors are being asked to waive Copyright for promotion purposes. However, we are seeking confirmation that the design proposals represent the intellectual property of the entrants.

The organisers confirm that the design proposals remain the intellectual property of the entrants.